Second Site visit tomorrow! Let's see if I can really do this!

Hello America! Here I am back in Lusaka. Whenever I have access to a computer it’s usually in the  middle of an extremely busy/stressful day. We only go to Lusaka for one reason: shopping. We are here shopping for food for second site visit aka tomorrow! This is a very exciting day for everyone. I will go visit my almost-home and meet my almost-family and observe my almost-school and find out what projects I will be almost working on. My hut is constructed and waiting for me. I have already spent a few days with my counterpart (the head teacher at my zonal school). Going over the basics of the area and school I will be working in.

            Where will I be going you ask? Well America- I will be heading up North to Kateshi village in the Kasama district of NORTHERN PROVINCE! I am very happy and excited for this. Monday was the longest day of my life- as a Bemba, there was no telling where I’d be going (Bemba is spoken in three different provinces). My hopes were that I would be placed in the same province and the two trainees that are in my language class…as they have become my right and left and we have formed a really good bond here in Chicheeko. When they presented us with the large map with our names in three totally different provinces we were a little bummed- but there is a great group of us going to Northern and I couldn’t be happier. There are five of us RED going to Northern and the LIFE volunteers of our intake will follow shortly after. There are currently 20-30 PCV’s serving in Northern right now. So I’ll start with Kasama- the district I will be living in. Kasama- just so you know- is the capital district of Northern Province. It is where our Peace Corps Provincial House (each province has one) is located. Keteshi is my village and it is 25 kilometers from Kasama. I am the closest Northern Volunteer to the capital.

            Kateshi has never had a PCV- I am a first generation volunteer. It is home to a very large coffee plantation and my hut is actually on/or very near this plantation. My head teacher explained that in the past, this plantation employed over 10,000 people and the area was actually very populated. However, in the last year or two, the plantation was shut down because of debt. People lost jobs and moved out and on. BUT just last week-the government bought back the land and is now re opening the compound just around when I will be moving in. So it’s pretty interesting. There will be a lot of people coming into the village- I will not be the only new kid on the block!

            Of course with that comes higher enrollment in the schools which might present some challenges.

            There are six government schools in my zone (zone= school district).The closest being 1k away. My job description requires me to work with 2-4 schools per term and I should be working with each school in some way over the next two years. However my program director explained that I have the chance to take a unique approach in that I may be able to work with a larger capacity of teachers at only one or two schools rather than biking the long distances everyday to try and reach all the other schools(all of which at 15-20 k away).

            Issues that my head teacher and I brainstormed working on include starting a girls club, adult literacy, co-teaching in health or English, and helping with HIV project at the local clinic. There is also an NGO working with my school on water and sanitation so I might be able to collaborate with them! I still have to complete Second site visit, training and community entry (community entry = first 3 months after I get posted where all I do is observe and network). Ah so yes- it is all finally coming together. After Second site visit, is three more weeks of training, then swear-in, then posting- YAY!

            A lot of training has been about different challenges we will face. One of the biggest challenges that I don’t think a lot of people think about is the idea that I am a white, rich, American, here to hand out food and supplies. So training focuses a lot of this idea of sustainable development. A lot of aide organizations here give out food, supplies, and money. My Bamayoo was even taking pictures of my little sister today to send in to one of those organizations that “sponsors” kids. You know- those kinds of pictures you get in the mail that read” For a dollar a day- you can help save this child.” Peace Corps id unique in that we provide PEOPLE as a valuable resource. There is a proverb that I had to memorize in Bemba that says: If you give a man a fish, he will have food for one night. If you teach a man how to fish,  he will have food forever. Meaning- it does no good for me to come storming in to a village with my own agenda and ideas of how these people should run their lives.  I will spend 3 months doing nothing but interviewing, observing, and understanding what these people want to do. My job is to “help them, help themselves,” so that after I leave- the village can survive on it’s own. Even when teaching- I will be co-teaching. Our goal is for these communities to be sustainable- my job is to listen, motivate, support, and organize based on their needs and wants. A resource volunteer was telling me how during the hunger season it gets really really hard to look at a pupil and say “no I cannot give you any food” but instead facilitate a lesson on perma-gardening or food security.

            Anyways that’s my updates I will now post some pictures and give you a list of little things I’ve picked up here and there:

I have learned:

-          I am a “type 1 learner”

-          Zambian women are stronger than Zambian men

-          Fresh chicken is the best chicken

-          Juju (witchcraft) is taken very seriously. And trying to explain that people who have psychological issues are not in fact possessed by demons and that they go to a “therapist” and not a “witch doctor” is harder than you think

-          The power of a lesson plan

-          Silence is not awkward

Being fat is a good thing. I no longer get offended when people say “my you are looking fat today” because fat is a sign of good health and money. Being thin is a sign of sickness, poverty, and AIDS

Funk and I on site visit.. she's coming to Northern with me!

 

My awesome language group

My sister Jessica

 

Bamayoo!!

Cousins

 

My home for training!